Thrust bearing



June 30, 1925.

E. U. GIBBS THRUST BEARING v F Y 6. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 auuewtoz ZZzyezza Z @256 June 30, 1925. 1,544,443

E. U. GIBBS THRUST BEARING Filed May 6 1924 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'lvmentoz Patented an, 30, 1925.)

UNITED STATES EUGENE U. GIBBS, O'F YORK, PENNSYIQVANIA.

'rnrws'r BEARING.

Application filed May 6,

To all whom it may ctmcem:

Be it known that I, EUGENE U. GIBBs, a

citizen of the- United States residing at with material advantages in the operation or rotation of the turbine shaft and the general operation .of a turbine and other mechanism associated therewith. The present in vcntion is an improvement ofthe structure disclosed. by my Patent No. 1,153,777, date-d September 14, 191 The principle involved 1924. Serial 110,711,441.

to the accompanyin drawings, which show one application of t 1e present invention for the purpose of demonstrating the practicability of the improvement.

In the drawings: 1

Fig. 1 is a-sectional elevation of a portion of turbine mechanjsm' showing the upper bearing for the turbine shaft and suliicient of the general turbine structure to illustrate the practicability of the application of the features of the improvement;

Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are, respectively, a top plan View, an ed (5 elevation, and. a transverse "ertical section of the stator ring;

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are,'respectivel v, abottom, plan, an edge elevation, and a. transverse. vertical section of the rotor ring.

The improved bearing has been illustrated in the operation of the bearing in the present as applied to a turbine shaft simply for conimprovement is practically the same a's'that Venlence in demonstrating one of lts advanof the bearing disclosed by my patent tageous applications, but it will be undernamely, a wedding action between parts of Stood that the improved bearing may be the bearing and the utilization of a film of l Wl l1 any Shaft havlng the same thrust lubricating oil between the bearing parts to ontingencies that affect a turblne -v eliminate the disadvantages incident to unrestricted thrust. 1n all 011 film thrust bearings, as far as The numeral 5 designates a turbine casing or dome which-will be constructed as usual, with the exception of the elimination of a I known, a guide or steady bearing for the {I dc 01 steady bearing, the Shaft 6 in the shafts mustbe used, but in the-present bcar- Pr ent instance extending through an ing improvement the guide bearing is elimiopening 7 at the center of the casing or nated and the thrust bearing itself over- "dome without any particular bearing struccomes the side pull. which is due to belts ture at. this point. The casing 5is provided or other driving mechanisms associated with with an upwardly projecting cylindrical the shaft In the present construction of extension or auxiliary casing 8, to form an the parts of the bearing th side pull on the oil chamber 9 having mounted thereover a shaft is obviated by making interacting parts cap. 10 suitably secured to the upper rim of of the bearing with thrust faces either conithe auxiliary casing 8. It will be seen that cal or spherical, the conical contour being the casing 8 and cap 10, enclo e the upper preferred as it requires less machin work. end of the shaft 6' and the improved bear- The essential elements inthe presentbearing. The bearing proper comprises a sta ing consist of a stationary disk and a rotattionary disk or stator 11 and a rotor or ing disk, the stationary disk having inclined revolving disk 12, the stator disk or ring 11 faces which allow the. oil to be drawn or fed being mounted on the upper flat face 13 of a in between the said disk and the rotary or leveling ring 14. The leveling ring 14 has revolving disk, to build up a.thrust presa lower spherical face 15 engagin a. corsure between the two disks equal to the total responding concave seat 16 forme in the load on the bearing. Th adhesion of the upper portion of a boss 17 rising from a oil to the revolving disk causes a pressure, bottom member 18 which is secured to the dueto the inclined or wedge surfaces of the top of the dome 5 concentrically Within stationary disk, to be set upand the oil is the auxiliary casin 8. The construction drawn or fed regularly between the two and arrangement 0 disks in an effective film-like form. and boss 17 with the interacting spherical The invention consists in the preferred}. surfaces sets up a wedging action and enconstruction and arrangement of the several. sures a positive placement and mounting of partsv which will be more fully hereinafter the ring or disk 11 relatively to the rotor or describedand claimed, reference being had revolving disk 12 disposed over the said the leveling ring 14 disk 11 as explained, and "moreover, this eration when the parts of the bearin structure provides for an accurate disposition of the ring or disk 11 by'a simple opmeans an inner oil chamber'22'is formed through which the shaft concentrically extends. Communication between the outer- .sufiply oil 0 amber 9 and the inner 'oil chamber 22 is provided by' ports or ducts 23 extending through the boss 17, and by this means a thorough circulation of the oil between the two chambers may at all timesensue. 4 Within the inner oil chamber 22 and concentrically held therein is a fixed I guard sleeve 24 which is of greater internal diameter than the diameter of the shaft 6, the shaft :6 occupying at all times a concentric relation to the said guard sleeve. This guard sleeve prevents the oil from coming directly into contact with the shaft, and leaka e and waste of the oil is thereby ob- The rotor ring or disk 12 has a babbitted wearing -face 25 applied thereto, as clearly shown by Fig. 7, and concaved or recessed, as at 26, to fit over and snugly engage the conical bearingface 27 of thestator ring or disk 11: As hereinbe'fore specified, it is preferred that the bearing face 27 of the stator ring or disk 11 beconstructed of conical contour,;and this contour is uniformly carried out throughout the whole area of this face. The conical contour of the v bearing face 27 of the "ring or disk 11 is more economical from av standpoint of construction than a spherical face, in view of the fact that less machine work is required to complete the fin or diskfor practical purposes. The beari g face 27 of the ring "or disk 11 is formed with radial grooves or channels 28, which extend fully from the central opening 20 outwardly through the periphery, of the said ring or disk and have a variable depth throughout their lengths.

Between the grooves 28 segmental portions or sections 29 are produced, and each segmental portion or section is formed with an upper segmental flat comparatively narrow bearing face part 30 and a, laterally inclined segmental bearing face part 31, the one'sideter ninal oflthe bearing face part 31 intersecting the side wall of the adjacent groove 28 at a point materially below the level of the opposite corresponding termi-'- 'nal side of the flat bearing face part-30, the latter intersecting the side wall of theadjacent groove 28 at the highest part of the, v latter or at its upper terminal. This conare struction of each segmental portion or section is regularly continued throughout the whole bearingface 27! The segmental or fiat bearing face parts 30 of the segmental portions or sections 27 render the thrust obstruction by the bearing effective byrpro g viding resisting surfaces that will not be rapidly worn, especially in view of'the lubricating material or oil that works thereover, and the friction surfaces are reduced to a minimum, in view of the fact that the said segmental parts 30 of the portions or sections 29' have direct contact or engagement W1 11 the babbitted wearing face 25 carried by and uniformly movable with the upper ring or disk 12. It is obvious that by forming the segmental bearing parts 30 of comparatively narrow width, the aggregate surface composed of the combined bearing parts 30 throughout the full area ll of the conical bearing face 27 of the ring or disk 11 will materially reduce the coordi-"' nated surfaces in contact, yet provide for a sufficient stability of support or interacting engagement of the operating faces of the stator ring or disk 11 and the rotor ring or disk 12.

The chamber 9 will be first supplied with a quantity of oil and filled to about the level noted in Fig. 1, access to this chamber being I obtained by removing the cap 10 or by the 7 use of any other well known oil feeding means. 'From'the chamber 9 the oil will feed through the ports-or ducts 23 into the inner oil chamber 22 and be supplied to the 4 bearing faces of the rings or disks 11 and 12 at inner and outer ortions of the latter. The oil will also circulate through the grooves or channels 28 between the two chambers and be caused to be drawn over the inclined bearing parts 31 of the portions or sections 29-towards the segmental flat bearing parts 30 in film-like form by being taken 11 I from the grooves or channels 28, and Ey this means a pressure is built up between the two rings or disks Ill egual to the load on the bearing and the oil a heres to the revolving disk and effects a pressure due to the inclined or wedge surfaces or inclined bearing parts 31 The oil which passes into the inner or circulating chamber 22 may flow outwardly toathe supply chamber 9 through the ports or ducts 23, as hereinbefore noted, or the oil from the chamber 9 ma circulate from the latter back and forth re atively to the-chamber 28,

or vice versa, and as the guard 24 extends high enough above the level of the oil inthe chamber 9 to prevent overfi'ow,'there will be no waste of oil due to leakage or contact thereof with the portion of the shaft 6 pass ing through the inner chamber 22. The variable depth 'of the grooves 01' channels 28 is very essential to an equal feeding of the oil from the said grooves or channels to the Ill inclined surfaces or bearing parts 31 between the grooves or channels, the outermost portions of the said bearing parts having the same volume of oil applied thereto by reason of the fact that the grooves or channels are of variable depth throughout their radial extent. and hence the film of oil drawn over each inclined bearing part of the face 27 of the disk 11 will be of the same thickness at the outer periphery as at the inner periphery of the ring or disk. This uniformity of the feed of oil through the medium of the specified depth of the grooves or channels 28 prevents any tendency of the outer portions of the ring or disk lrcing supplied with a less quantity of oil than the inner or intermediate portions of the ring or disk, and at the same time a full and regular circulation of the oil backwardly and forwardly between the chambers 9 and 32 will ensue. A continual displacement ofditl'erent portions of the oil by a thorough circulation of the oil as set up between the chambers 9 and 22 through the ports or ducts 23 and the radial grooves 28, will bring new quantities of oil into contact with and between the interacting faces of the rings or disks l1 and 12, and this circulation and displacement of different portions of the oil will be due entirely to the variable depth of the radial grooves orchannels 28. There will be no choke or occlusion of the oil in its circulation through the grooves or channels 28 and the ports or ducts 23, and as a consequence, material opposition 'will exist to wear on the parts of the bearing in view of the constant preservation of a uniform oil film pressure equal to the load on the hear ing;

in assembling the stator and rotor rings or disks 11 and 12 with relation to the leveling ring 14, the latter will be adjusted in the first instance to produce an accurate engagenientjof the opposing bearing faces of the said stator and rotor rings or disks and such adjustment will be fixed, and at any time subsequent to a primal adjustment the said leveling ring may be further adjusted to reset the stator and rotor rings ordisks as may be found necessary.

From the foregoing it will be understood that the essential feature of the invention consists in raising the bearing face of the stator ring and correspondingly recessing the bearing face of the rotor ring or disk for accuracy in registration of the bearing faces of the two rings or disks, and in addition, to provide the radial grooves or channels 28 and the segmental sections between the latter, each having a horizontally flat bearing part of comparatively narrow width and a much wider inclined bearing part. The

angle of the com lete bearing face of the stator ring or dls 11 as well as the angle of the inclined bearing parts 31'may be generally of conical contour with the modified at will, and it will be understood that if the angle of the complete bearing face 27 be modlfied, the recessed or bearing face 26 of the rotor ring or disk 12 will be likewise modified, so as to always ensure a snug fitting and forming pf the film of oil in relation to each bearing part 31 and 30.

. The improved hearing has been shown applied toa vertically disposed shaft, but it can be equally well used with a horizontal shaft or a shaft in any other position between a horizontal and vertical plane.

.The bearing parts'30, though having flat surfaces as contradistinguished from the laterally inclined bearing parts 31, incline inwardly towards the center opening 20 regularly 1n accordance with the genera conical contour of the complete bearing face 27 of the stator ring or disk 11. The bearing parts 31, likewise, have the same trend toward the opening 20 of the ring 11, and consequently cach bearing part 31 is inclined in two directions.

\Vhat is claimed as new is:

1. In a thrust bearing, the combination of an oil chamber, a shaft extending thereinto, a rotor ring secured totheshaft, a stator ring cooperating with the rotor ring, the rings being located in the oil chamber and hayinggprojecting and recessed interacting bea-ringfaces of the same general contour, the projecting bearin, face of the one ring being generally of conical'contour and radially divided by oil grooves of variable depth throughout their lengths to provide segmental sections each comprising a laterally inclined bearing part with a flat surface and a narrower segmental fiat part operating with the rotor ring, the rings having projecting and recessed interacting'bearing aces of the same general contour, and the bearing face of the stator rin being highest portion thereof at the center, said bearing face being radially divided by oil grooves extending fully from the central portion through the-periphery thereof and of variable depth throughout theirlengths to provide segmental sections each comprising a laterally incli'ned part with a flat surface and a se mental flat part for circulation of oil and ormation of oil films relatively to the interacting bearing, faces of the two rings, v 3. In' a thrust bearing of the class specified, the combination withan oil chamber and a shaft extending thereinto, of a rotor ring secured to the shaft, and a stator ring spec-ified,

cooperating with the rotor ring, the rings respectively having projecting and recessed interfitting bearingfaees of the same general contour, the bearing face of the stator ring being generally of conical contour sloping towards the periphery thereof, said 'learing face being also radially divided by oilgrooves of variable depth throughout their lengths and with laterally inclined bearing parts extending partway between each of two oil grooves.

4. In a thrustbearing of the class specified, the combination with'an oil chamber and a shaft extending thereinto, of a rotor ring secured to-the shaft, and a stator ring cooperating with the rotor ring, the stator ring having a bearing face of general conical'eontour with the highest portion there- 'of at the center and-the rotor ring havinga correspondingly "shaped recess .to provide relatively interfitting bearing faces of the a same general contour and the projecting bearing/face ofthe one ring radially divided by -oil grooves ofvariable depth throughout their lengths and also with laterally inclined bearing parts which also have an outwardly projecting trend towards the center of the said ring between 'each two grooves, the remaining parts of the pro- ;jecting bearing face of the one ring ,being flat and narrower than the laterally inclined bearing parts and also having an outwardly projecting trend towards'the center of the T1110. p g

5 In a thrust bearing of the class spec ified, the combinationwith an oil chamber and ashaft extending thereinto ,of a rotor ring secured to the shaft, and a stator ring cooperating with the rotor ring; the rotor ring being formed with a recessed bearing surface and the stator ring with a projecting conically shaped bearing surface to fit inand ope-ratively engage the recessed bearing face of the rotor ring, the stator ring also being radially divided intofsegmental sections by oil grooves of variable depth throughout their lengths extending fully from the periphery to the center'ofthe said stator ring, each" segmental section comprising a laterally inclined bearin part and a flat segmental bearing part narrower than the laterally inclined bearing part, both of the latter bearing parts having the greater outward projection at the center of thestator ring and following the general contour of the conical bearing face of theprojecting conical bearing face and are-- cessedbearing face of the same contour as the projecting hearing face, the projecting bearing face of. the one ring being radiall divided by-oil grooves of variable depththroughout their/ lengths and which extend from the periphery to the center opening of the ring to provide segmental sections each comprising a laterall inclined part and .a segmental narrower at part for circulation of oil and formation ofv oil films relatively to thexinteracting bearing faces of the two rings. a v J -7. In a thrust bearing of the class specified, the'combination with an oil chamber and a shaft extending thereinto, a rotor ring secured to the shaft, a stator ring cooperating with the rotor ring,a leveling ring engaging the stator ring, the rotor and stator rings being located in the oil chamber and all of the rings having enlarged central openings to provide an inner oil chamber around the'shaft, the rotor and stator rings also having projectin" conical and recessed relatively interacting bearing faces, the projecting bearing face of the one ring being radially divided by oil grooves'of variable depths throughout their lengths and which extend from the periphery to the central opening of the ring to provide segmental SGCtI-ODS each comprising a laterally inclined part and asegmental flat-part for circula- .tion of oil and the formation of oil films relatively to 'the'intera-cting bearing faces of the rotor and stator rings.

' In testimony whereof I have hereunto set' my hand.

EUGENEUI'GIBBSQ 

